Closing Time
by Liana-chan
Summary: Oneshot. It's Christmas After Colony 196, just before Mariemaiea appears. One year after the end of the war that Treize gave his life to, Zechs sits and remembers. Implied slash ZechsTreize


And here's number two! Closing Time is a great song. And it's by Semisonic. Great song! Hope you enjoy.

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**Closing Time**

The dim lighting lent privacy to the deepest corners of the bar, shielding the occupants of the booths from prying eyes. By comparison, these same dim lights made sections of the bar seem as if they were under spotlights, broken by darker intervals. Smoke drifted up in lazy curls, sliding between the shadows.

Zechs shifted on his stool, moving his body into one of the more shadowed areas. He left his glass where it was, staring at the light glinting off the amber liquid inside. He sighed and took another drink, grimacing slightly at the harsh taste and the burning sensation as it slid down his throat. He went back to gazing into his glass as though his focus had never been broken.

A song being piped over the stupored people peppering the bar intruded upon his solitude, interrupting his meditation on nothing.

_Closing time_

_You don't have to go home,_

_But you can't stay here._

_I know who I want to take me home._

'_So do I.' _The thought of Treize transported Zechs back one year. Back one year exactly. He closed his eyes in pain, which only intensified the memory, the distractions of the real world blocked out.

_He was running on adrenaline, not feeling anything but the rushing in his veins. He was not tired, tapped into a boundless source of energy. The pain of old wounds, stiff legs, and wrenched muscles faded away completely as he pushed his body to new extremes._

_He fought, possessed by inner demons; fought as though he could somehow keep these demons at bay, somehow smother the wild fire that burned throughout his body._

_Flames flashed again and again, lighting up the dark vacuum of space before fading to nothing. Normally ice-blue eyes danced with an orange glow reflected from the explosions of the mobile suits around him._

_Allies and enemies became indistinguishable. Time around him seemed to slow to the point where it had almost stopped completely, while he sped up, darting and spinning between mobile suits, leaving nothing but death and fiery orange behind in his wake._

_An explosion he was too slow to dodge threw Zechs against his safety harness and then back against the seat. His breath left him and his vision swam, blood throbbing at the back of his head. He shook his head violently, dispersing the bright spots of light that were taunting him, dancing in front of his eyes, distracting him. _

_As Zechs looked around, he discovered that he was the last soldier left in the area, his only company the broken shards of ruined mobile suits floating around him in space._

_He punched his thrusters and sped towards the closest cluster of dancing orange and blazing yellow lights. As he drew nearer, Zechs caught a glimpse of a familiar mobile suit before it was hidden again by the shifting sea of struggling metal giants. He worried his lip nervously, tasting blood. Clear blue eyes searched the mass until they found Treize's Tallgeese and widened in shock as they took in the sight of the bean trident protruding from the suit's chest. The weapon was wrenched from the sparking machine just before an additional orange blaze lit up space, effectively signaling an end to the war, even though it had yet to be announced. The war was over. And Zechs didn't care. How could he, when the only person who had ever made his world complete had just been the martyr who ended it all?_

_In shock, Zechs let his thrusters die down, slowing him to normal flight speed, the stopping all together as he didn't continue to pilot his suit. He suddenly became tired and his limbs felt as if they were made of stone – the adrenaline rush had ebbed away just as it had been about to place him on a permanent plateau, instead leaving him to plummet down to the lulling waves of exhaustion awaiting him below._

_Zechs could do nothing but watch the battle being waged before him; he wasn't even sure if he wanted to do anything else. He was so tired… And it was all so very pointless… Now that Treize was gone, what possible reason could he have for fighting? Treize had been his reason to fight, to live, to continue existing. So they could be together. But now… A tear made its way down his cheek._

_Leaden eyelids slid shut, head and body leaned forward as far as the harness would allow, fingers slipped off the controls, and nothing but darkness and tranquility existed._

Outside, the snow drifted lazily, brilliantly tinged by the brightly coloured lights that hung twinkling over the street, falling to rest on the shoulders, hats, and noses of meandering holiday window-shoppers, sparkling white once again.

Zechs turned away from the cheerful scene as he finished his drink, tossing back the remainder of the burning liquid before signaling for another.

He glanced at the door as the tiny bells hung there chimed. A small flurry of white powder was ushered by a light gust of wind, as Zech's anguished imagination warped the leaving figures.

_Two tall men, one with long blonde hair, the other short ginger, gloved fingers intertwined, smiling small smiles meant only for each other._

He shook his head to clear it as a new glass slid to a stop before him. A single crystalline tear fell unheeded onto the dark wood of the bar.

'_He's never coming home._'

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La Fin 

Like I said above, the lyrics from Closing Time belong to Semisonic.

And a tiny review would be nice... No, I'm not going to beg. Much. Please?


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